Founder and CEO of Scratch Music Group

Rob Principe is the Founder and CEO of Scratch Music Group, the nation’s leader in DJ booking, technology and music education. An internationally-recognized brand, Scratch is comprised of two complimentary business units: Scratch Events, which provides DJ talent for the most influential brands in the world, and Scratch DJ Academy, the world’s leading DJ learning center, which Principe co-founded with the late Jam Master Jay of Run DMC. Since its founding in 2002, Scratch has booked DJs for over 75,000 events and entertained more than 30 million guests at events for high-profile brands including MTV, Pepsi, Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger, Sephora, H&M, Ann Taylor, Neiman Marcus, W Hotels, Saks, Bloomingdales, ESPN, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, W Hotels and many more. Additionally, the Scratch DJ Academy has graduated more than 500,000 students representing all 50 states and over 20 countries. In his role as CEO, Principe helps connect brands with their audiences to entertain, energize and monetize traffic by providing curated DJs, anytime and anywhere.

He works across all major corporate sectors with a focus on the Retail, Hospitality, Cruise & Resorts, Brand/Agency and Sports verticals. For each client and prospect, Principe helps formulate and implement effective marketing and ROI positive strategies for established and emerging companies. He does this in part by leveraging his extensive client relationship management experience which he’s honed through years of working directly with top decision makers. Scratch is headquartered in NYC with additional offices in Los Angeles & Miami, and with reach across all major, mid and small markets, domestic and international. Principe is also the co-author of the best-selling book, On the Record: The Scratch DJ Academy Guide (published by St. Martin’s Press in 2009), which is widely considered the definitive guide to DJing and DJ culture. The book features contributions from more than 40 notable DJs and a foreword by Moby, the award-winning musician and DJ. Known internationally for revolutionizing the DJ industry by consolidating and formalizing the market, Principe has been featured in major news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune and CNN. Prior to founding Scratch, Principe held management positions at Sony, USA Networks and the Sci-Fi Channel. Principe holds a B.A. from Duke University where he attended on a tennis scholarship and graduated cum laude.